Although my chances of winning at this point seem slim, I’m not giving up and thought I’d take a minute to post the essay I wrote when I applied for the scholarship. I thought the scholarship folks said they may post finalist essays, but I don’t see them anywhere…so I figured I’d at least get it out there for someone to read. If you’re still looking for a reason to vote or if you’re interested in reading about what this blog has meant to me, go ahead and make the jump.

I began blogging in November of 2007, early in my junior year of high school. At the time, I was essentially just a kid messing around on the internet – I had just started to see what sports blogs were, and being a giant sports fan with some time on my hands, I gave it a shot. I started writing about Pittsburgh sports, picked up a few readers on the way, and became hooked. Later that school year (March), I was cut from my high school baseball team – a shocking blow to an enormous part of my life that consumed a ton of my time and social life. To help compensate for that loss, I started to put more effort into the blog. As the 2008 Pirates season began, I narrowed the scope of the site to Pirates-only – not only am I a bigger fan of the Pirates than of any other Pittsburgh team, but I intended to provide a more detailed view of one team rather than a general view of many.

Once I got going with the constant Pirates posts, I started to pick up readers and really enjoy what I was doing. The fact that people were actually reading what I—just an ordinary fan (and a high school kid with no outside knowledge) really struck me and motivated me to keep writing and improving. I did, and the site continued to grow.

Being a Pirate fan is generally pretty miserable. The team has suffered a North American professional-sports record 19 consecutive losing seasons. I’m 20 years old. Do the math. Regardless, I’ve always remained a fan and always will. Living just 20 minutes from PNC Park (the best ballpark in baseball) and growing up playing competitive baseball through the age of 20, I’ve come to love my city’s team more than almost anyone in Pittsburgh ever could. By following them even more closely through the blog, I want them to succeed more than ever, but also took more of an informed, analytical role as a fan. That role has given me some faith in the team’s new management group – there is at least some hope for the future now with improved drafting, spending, Latin America development, etc. Additionally, the passion of so many other fans I interact with online helps keep me going. Before beginning the blog, I legitimately thought nobody cared about the Pirates as much as I did. Instead, it turns out that there is a strong, vocal Pirates fan community on the internet that I’ve been fortunate to interact with endlessly throughout my time as a blogger.

That community has become one of my favorite things about blogging. As I mentioned before, the fact that hundreds of people are willing to read, discuss, and absorb what I have to say about my favorite team is an enormous motivator for me. I was a (relatively) early adopter of Twitter, and over the years my account (@rtjr) has grown to over 3,100 followers. During Pirates games my feed is something to behold; endless opinions, exclamations over good/bad plays, questions and discussions, updates from around the league, etc. I can ask a question, state an opinion, or make a joke and immediately get 10 responses from bright people that I enjoy conversing with. Now, even though it’s the offseason, I often have a new mention whenever I check my phone or computer wanting to discuss the latest news, rumors or signings. I’ve even occasionally scored tickets (sometimes even free ones) through Twitter and the site. The Pirates online fan community is like a giant secondary family to me, and is truly one of the main reasons I enjoy blogging so much.

The blog has become more than a hobby to me. It requires a significant time commitment; during the season I post about three times daily, and try to average around one post per day in the offseason. Posting is time consuming, but I also spend countless hours watching the games themselves, reading all the latest Pirates news, scrolling through Twitter for instant updates/discussions, and maintaining the technical aspects of the site. I’ve had a few minor contributors help from time to time, but over 99% of the content is entirely mine. Even after I didn’t have a baseball team to play for anymore in high school, it still wasn’t easy to keep up. It’s even more difficult now in college as an engineering student.

The hard work, however, has paid dividends. I do get some (not much) revenue from site ads, but the blog has been more valuable to me in other ways. It was a major highlight of my college applications and essays – and must have been viewed well as I was accepted into all six schools to which I applied. The blog remains a large piece of my resume, and was a large talking point in my interview for my engineering internship last summer. Writing is generally not a strong point for many engineers, so having the constant ability to sharpen my skills and display them to colleagues and employers at any time is an enormous asset for me.

My blog has become an enormous part of my life, and has provided me with a great outlet to display my passion for the Pirates and my writing. It has also helped me meet many great people and has proved to be an asset in my academic and professional life. I can’t imagine where I would be today without it.